diff --git a/lib/reporters/xunit.js b/lib/reporters/xunit.js
index 875d592876..1cfd8f4f51 100644
--- a/lib/reporters/xunit.js
+++ b/lib/reporters/xunit.js
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ XUnit.prototype.test = function(test) {
 
   if (test.state === 'failed') {
     var err = test.err;
-    this.write(tag('testcase', attrs, false, tag('failure', {}, false, cdata(escape(err.message) + '\n' + err.stack))));
+    this.write(tag('testcase', attrs, false, tag('failure', {}, false, escape(err.message) + '\n' + escape(err.stack))));
   } else if (test.isPending()) {
     this.write(tag('testcase', attrs, false, tag('skipped', {}, true)));
   } else {
@@ -164,11 +164,3 @@ function tag(name, attrs, close, content) {
   }
   return tag;
 }
-
-/**
- * Return cdata escaped CDATA `str`.
- */
-
-function cdata(str) {
-  return '<![CDATA[' + escape(str) + ']]>';
-}